Bleeding and Dressing Hogs

The essential tools for doing good work at killing time are: A good sticking knife, a cleaver, a 14-inch steel on which to sharpen the knives, hog hooks, bell-shaped scrapers, meat saw, and gambrel. More than one of each tool is necessary if many hogs are to be butchered and handled efficiently. A block and tackle will reduce labor in hanging the hog for gutting.

In China, the water for scalding is heated in a sort of a furnace commonly calledt’ong chue ts’o. (劏豬灶). The furnace is made of brick and concrete, or concrete only. It is usually about thirty-six inches wide, six feet long, and twenty-eight inches high at one end, gradually sloping to about twenty-six inches high near the other end, where a large brass or iron basin for holding water is placed over a fire grate. The basin in which the water is heated is usually about twenty inches in diameter, eight inches deep in the center, and diminishing in depth from the center to the rim. The shallow basin with large contact with the fire obtains quick heating and saving of fuel. The top of the furnace is made to slope from all sides toward the bowl so that, when hot water is poured on the hog which lies on the table, the water runs back into the basin.

All tools and apparatus used in killing and handling the animal should be ready before it is killed. The knives and saws should be sharp and clean. The water should be near the boiling point and the block and tackle ready, if one is to be used.

The common and most satisfactory method of killing the hog is by severing the large arteries and veins in the neck of the animal with a sticking knife about nine inches long. The animal should be laid on its back and held firmly while it is being stuck. Two mencan handle a large hog if they work intelligently. By reaching under the animal and grasping the opposite legs and suddenly jerking the legs, a heavy hog can be easily turned over on its back. One man standing astride the animal with his feet close against its sides, and holding the front legs, can easily control it while the other does the sticking.

Fig. 5. Tools Used by Chinese in Butchering.Lower Row Right to Left.Sticking knife.Cutting and scraping knives.Heavy knife for cutting meat.Knife for cutting bone.Cleaver.Funnel for Stuffing sausage casing.Hook used in handling meat that is being roasted.Tool used in roasting meat.Upper Row Right to Left.Cork with needles for pricking casing when it is being filled in order to let out the air.Hooks for handling carcass.

Fig. 5. Tools Used by Chinese in Butchering.

Fig. 6. Hog scraped and hung up for gutting.

Fig. 7. Scraping the hog on the“t’ong chue t’so”.

It is a common custom with Chinese butchers to lay the hog across a narrow bench for sticking. This requires more handling of the animal then when the animal is simply turned over on its back on the floor, or on a low table or box for the sticking.

The sticking knife should have a blade eight or nine inches long. In America, a knife with straight edges, which at the end tapers to a point is used, while in China, a knife tapering from two inches wide at the handle to a long, narrow point is used. Either type of knife will do. The knife should be thrust diagonally into the neck for about six to eight inches of its length, depending on the size of the hog. It should be inserted on the middle line of the body, about three or four inches in front of the sternum, with the sharp edge of the knife toward the rear and the knife pointed in the direction of the loin of the hog. One hand of the operator should be held on the lower jaw of the hog to help hold the animal steady. It will require a little practice to stick properly. If rightly done, the large blood vessels will be severed, the animal will bleed quickly, and be dead in less than five minutes.

In large packing houses, where each man has a certain piece of work to do, the hogs are hung by one leg upon a moving over-head track. As the hogs move by the killer, he grasps one front leg with one hand, and, with the other hand, does the sticking. Such an arrangement is practical where a large number of hogs is killed daily.

There is a very common practice in China of increasing the weight of the dressed hog carcass by forcing water into the meat as soon as the blood has drained away and the scraping is finished. Water is forced in through the large blood vessels leading away from the heart. To do this properly, care is taken in sticking not to sever the large blood vessels from the heart. This is accomplished by using along, narrow sticking knife, which is thrust into the heart itself. The animal thus stuck bleeds into the chest cavity, which is not desirable, as the bleeding will not be as thorough as when the large blood vessels only are severed. The carcass of the hog may be increased several pounds by this treatment. It is difficult to detect from the appearance of the pork whether or not it has been watered. On roasting, watered meat shrinks more than normal meat. Watered meat will spoil quicker than normal meat, and will not cure well. The practice of “watering” meat should be discouraged.

An soon as the hog is dead, it must be scalded and the hair and scurf quickly removed. The animal is then placed on the top of thet’ong chue ts’o. The head and shoulders are scalded first. They should be immersed in the water, which should be from 185 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water is hotter, the hair will set. Care should be taken to keep the carcass constantly moving by turning it from side to side, in order to get a uniform scald and not to allow the carcass to stay in contact with the bottom of the bowl in which the water is being heated. Occasionally it should be removed from the water and the hair “tried”. As soon as the hair and scurf slip easily, the scalding is complete. The hind quarters are scalded in the same manner. The head and feet should be scraped first, as the hair sets on those parts first. Two or three pounds of wood ashes put in the water will help loosen the scurf. Proper scalding and scraping require fast work. If the carcass gets cold before the hair has been removed, the hair will set and have to be removed by shaving with a sharp knife. For scraping, the candle-stick or bell-shaped scraper is best. What cannot be removed with it, can be removed with a sharp, curved knife.

In America when only from one to three hogs are butchered at a time the custom is to heat the water in a large kettle over a stove or out-door fire. The hot water is poured into a barrel which is tipped at an angle with the top of the table, the top of the table being level with the lower side of the top of the barrel. The hog is slid into the barrel, first the head end, and then the rear end. The body is kept in motion by pulling it up and down until it is scalded, and the hair and scurf slip well. This is a quick method of scalding as much of the hog can be immersed in the water at one time, but it requires more labor than does the method of scalding with thet’ong chue ts’o.

In large packing houses, the hogs are automatically scalded and scraped, by being drawn through a tube filled with water of the proper temperature. Stiff brushes on the inside of the tube remove the hair and scurf as the hog passes through.

The entrails of the hog may be removed with the hog lying on a table, as is the common practice in the Canton region. The hog should be propped so that it lies on its back. However, it is more conveniently done with the hog hung up by its hind legs. To hang up the hog requires what is known as a gambrel, which may be simply a strong stick, pointed at the ends, about an inch and a half in diameter and eighteen inches long, a block and tackle, and a secure place over-head, about nine feet high, for attaching one end of the tackle. With a sharp knife, the cords in the hind legs just above the dew claws are separated from the bone enough to allow inserting the sharpened end of the gambrel, and thus spreading the legs. The gambrel should have a hook or ring in the center for attaching it to one end of a block and tackle. The carcass is then lifted so that the head end clears the floor or ground about four inches. A better and more convenient gambrel may be made of iron and adjustable for hogs of different sizes.

After the hog is hung up, clean water should be poured on it and it should then be scraped clean of all remaining patches of hair, scurf, or dirt. The head should then be removed by cutting through the flesh to the atlas joint where the neck joins the head, cutting entirely around the neck about an inch back of the ears. If the head does not drop off, it can be easily removed by grasping it by the ears and twisting it.

If removing the entrails, first cut through the flesh between the hind legs, to the bone, and split the pelvic bones with a saw or cleaver. Cutting through the bone is easily done if the cut through the flesh is made on the midline between the hind legs, as the bone is very thin at that point. Cut through the flesh down the midline of the belly toward the head, to the breastbone. In doing this, care should be taken not to cut the intestines, which lie just beneath the thick layer of fat meat. By shielding the point of the knife with the left hand and guiding it with the right, there is little danger of cutting the intestines. The entrails are now exposed, and the fat fromaround the stomach should be removed. This fat is strong in flavor and should not be mixed with the leaf fat. Cut around the anus close to the tail and strip the rectum from its attachment to the back bone. A string should be tightly tied around the end of the rectum and the urethra so that there will be no danger of the contents of the intestines or bladder soiling the meat. If the animal is a male, care should be taken not to cut the penis in making the cut down the midline of the body and between the hind legs. The penis should be stripped from the fat in which it is embedded, and thrown over the back of the animal out of the way of the butcher. Then remove the stomach and intestines by cutting across the gullet, after first pulling the gullet up into the chest cavity. Remove the liver from its attachment to the intestines and remove the gall bladder from its attachment to the liver. Care should be taken not to cut the gall bladder. Now cut through the breast bone, beginning at the front end and cutting upward with a knife through the flesh to the bone. The bone is best cut with a saw, and the cut should be made upward. The “pluck”, which consists of the heart, lungs, and gullet, is removed by cutting across the artery which can be easily seen running down the backbone, and by cutting around the diaphragm close to the ribs. Split the backbone with a saw to facilitate cooling. In cutting, a knife should always be used for cutting through the flesh before the saw is used. If the saw is used for cutting the meat, the cut surface of the meat will have a rough, unattractive appearance.

As a rule, the butchers in Canton cut up the carcass immediately after gutting. This may be necessary in a warm climate where no ice is used to facilitate cooling, in order to prevent the meat from souring, but the meat handles much better if it is cooled before it is cut up. This may be done during the cold weather of the winter season by butchering in the evening and allowing the carcass to cool over night, or by placing the meat in a refrigerator, at a temperature of from 34 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Freshly killed meat absorbs odors very readily and there should be no fresh paint, tar, kerosene, or like substances near the fresh meat.

Fig. 8. A good lard hog. Note the full back and hams, short neck, deep sides, short legs, and excellent quality.

Fig. 9. Dressed carcass: 1, hams; 2, bacon; 3, fatback; 4, shoulder; 5, jowl; 6, shoulder butt; 7, leaf lard; 8, ribs; 9, fat back and chops; 10, head.

After the two halves of the carcass have been cooled, they may be placed on a table with the meat side up. The front legs areremoved about an inch above the knee and the hind legs about an inch above the hock. Immediately remove the leaf lard and the kidneys, all in one piece, so as to facilitate cooling, using the hands to strip the leaf lard from its attachment to the sides. Strip out the tenderloin. Divide each half of the carcass into three parts, the shoulders, middle and hams. For cutting through the flesh, a heavy knife with a curved blade is best. A saw should be used in cutting through the bone. Cutting should be across the grain of the meat as much as is possible, in order that the meat will carve better after cooking.

The shoulder cut is made between the fourth and fifth ribs, where the ribs leave the backbone. The cut should be made at right angles with the top and bottom edges of the middle piece in order to make a rectangular middle piece. This necessitates a diagonal cut across the end of the fourth rib. If the shoulders are to be cured, remove the ribs and the backbone from the shoulder piece. Cut close to the ribs in removing them in order to leave as much meat on the shoulder as is possible. Cut off the top of the shoulder with about one and one-half inches of the cartilage and bone at the top. This removes most of the fat meat and trims the shoulder for curing. The shoulder should be further trimmed by cutting off rough parts with a sharp knife.

Separate the hams from the middle by cutting just back of the beginning of the rise in the backbone. The ribs should be separated from the side meat. If it is desired to make pork chops, care should be taken to leave the long muscle on either side of the backbone attached to the backbone and ribs. The end of the ribs should then be cut off with a cleaver, leaving about three inches of the ribs attached to the backbone to form part of the chops. In preparing the chops for roasting, cuts should be made through the meat between the ribs and between the vertebrae.

It is the custom for butchers in Canton to remove all the meat from the ribs and backbone. The sides are then cut into strips about one inch wide, cutting from the top to the bottom, and used, fresh or cured. The ribs and backbone are then cut into small parts and prepared in a very tasty way with a sweet dressing. The dish prepared in this manner is known aschue p’aai kwat(豬排骨).

If the side meat is to be made into cured bacon, the first method of separating the ribs from the meat is followed. This leaves the side meat about one and a half to two inches thick. The strip of pure fat meat along the top, known as the fat back, the strip of belly fat at the bottom, up to, and including the teats, should be removed. The middle piece which is left after thus trimming, is used for making cured bacon. The fat back and the belly strip can be used for lard.

If the hams are to be cured, all sharp points should be smoothed off, giving a neat, rounded shape to the ham.

The small pieces of meat cut from the shoulders, hams, and middle pieces in trimming, maybe used fresh, or made into sausage. The fat of the trimmings may be used for making lard.

The fattest part of the head may be used for lard, or cut into strips about three quarters of an inch wide and cured, or it may be used for making sausage or head cheese. The snout, ears, and tongue may be used fresh or pickled.

The small amount of meat on the feet is considered very delicious. The feet may be either cooked for immediate use, or they may be pickled.

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